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![And Colossal claims it has turned grey wolves into dire wolves by making just 20 gene edits?
That is the claim. In fact, five of those 20 changes are based on mutations known to produce light coats in grey wolves, Shapiro told New Scientist. Only 15 are based on the dire wolf genome directly and are intended to alter the animals’ size, musculature and ear shape. It will be a year or so before it’s clear if those changes have had the intended effects on the genetically modified animals, says Shapiro.
So these pups aren’t really dire wolves at all, then?
It all comes down to how you define species, says Shapiro. “Species concepts are human classification systems, and everybody can disagree and everyone can be right,” she says. “You can use the phylogenetic [evolutionary relationships] species concept to determine what you’re going to call a species, which is what you are implying… We are using the morphological species concept and saying, if they look like this animal, then they are the animal.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4f6q2myyn7loi6pesip43sct/bafkreidrzlxiucnn6uwlzswjdztj7b5ai4mnmwe5iekpejeyejvobj3yha)
